Coat – Zara, Dress – Christopher Kane for Topshop, Shirt as skirt – Uniqlo men’s plaid, Shoes – Primark, Clutch – Chanel

I may have once or twice placed a pot of boiling rameon on my geography textbook, but at one point in time I could rattle off the countries in Africa and their capital cities, courtesy of my nutcase middleschool geography tutor. I would thank her for the education but then again I’ll wait till I save a baby from a burning building with ‘Libreville is capital of Gabon’. Speaking of which, I’m still yet to thank my math teacher because I’ve also yet to solve the unemployment crisis with the quadratic formula. Sorry, this paragraph just reads stupid, I should’ve been born a marshmallow. But if you just thought isn’t Africa a country I might as well get a cardboard box for your belongings and walk you to the door.

So, despite the fact that I thought I was pretty well-versed with the lumps and slumps of this planet and their respective names, Azerbaijan might as well have been a country only accessible through a wardrobe when I first read it in the invitation email. I simply did not have a single reference to form a sort of expectation when getting ready to travel to Baku, except perhaps vaguely remembering something in one of the 007 movies from back in the days when red leather jumpsuit with lumps spilling out meant you were a bond girl. When I landed and the cab weaved through the city towards the hotel, to put it blunt, it was HOLY LLAMABALLS WHERE AM I. I’ll show you more about the city later, but just from the Emporium store launch you can tell it’s been one very very well-kept secret.

Huge thanks to Emporium for the invitation and Andy & Pelayo for a great time.

Cashmere Coat & Scarf – On loan from Eric Bompard, Cashmere blend jumper – Uniqlo, Jeans – c/o Levi’s, Brogues – Office, Clutch – c/o Chanel

If I used ‘soft‘ to describe cashmere, would that put me in the Humour, lack-thereof category in Bloglovin’? You see, ‘soft’ really doesn’t cut it when describing the furry ball of rainbow scrunched up in your hand, slippery and foamy all at the same time. Soft is for sentences like ‘Baby here’s your Gilette, the enchanted forest must go, I liked your legs soft and smooth’. Best not put me in a game show, I don’t stand a chance in explaining the fabric without using words like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or MAGIC. Isn’t everything MAGIC when it’s sparkly and furry anyway. What’s a Paris visit without a visit to Eric Bompard, the one brand that is understood to have reached the prime shelves of practically every Parisian’s wardrobe?  You should’ve seen this one black 100% cashmere poloneck that would’ve banished every piece but a pair of grey skinnies and black stilettos from my mood-rail for the rest of the season… Lorraine kindly let me borrow a coat and scarf for the night as I’d underpacked for the weather, which probably was a very big mistake – not the underpacking – the getting an unintended taste of the… MAGIC, and having to give it back. See me go my precious with a coat.

Thank you Lorraine & Gabriel for the invitation, and Carrie for helping with the shots!

Lace coat – Courtesy of Amber Sakai, Dress & Vest – Uniqlo, bag – Zara, Bracelet – Kurt Geiger, Shoes – Topshop

I have this bad habit of refusing to eat anything during the day when there’s a promising meal in the horizon… actually, it’s a little similar to my concept of hygiene. (Promising event next week, I MUST SAVE MY HYGIENE.) Sometimes I’d curse the sky when it starts pouring while I’m cycling, screaming ‘Not yet okay!? Let me just get my awesome Cowshed shampoo from my back pocket‘ and do a lawnsprinkler shower in the street. Along with the refusing to eat, there was refusing to get out of bed, so basically I woke up that day to have dinner in Aqua Kyoto. I realised I never really look up when on Oxford Street, and naturally I’ve never had a chance to look down – the view from the fourth floor restaurant balcony is spectacular, especially when you have a fire in your glass and you’re not sure if you’re meant to blow it out or feed it some coal and swap that with the table candle. Na, my drink was the 43 Flowers, frappuchino equivalent of alcohol (a dessert, basically), a very sweet and refreshing drink that complimented the four courses handsomely.

The restaurant is done up in a very ‘exclusive club’ feel, but one reservation call will put you down for a perfect moody corner for that anniversary dinner, or after-work drinks on the balcony and throwing drunken raspberries down on Argyll Street.

Thank you Jessica of TCS for the invitation. The outfit is second instalment of Uniqlooks for this month! Also many kissies to Macku for the photos.

Shirt, Shorts, Bag – Uniqlo, Shoes – Topshop, Watch – Casio, Bracelet (right arm) – both COS, Bracelets (left arm) – mix of DIY, Kellu Melu, H&M

World, meet my new bicycle, CW, or China Woman. The first day I rode it out some idiot in a run-down car drove up to me and yelled TAKE IT EASY CHINA WOMAN. Who, me? Since I’m not Chinese I assumed he knew something I didn’t know so I started calling my bike that. So World, my China Woman and I go fast & slow on the bus lane and sometimes through very narrow alleys. Man… had to go to Thesaurus.com to find child-friendly words for that dirty line, are you happy, parents? Too bad though, because I’m going to woo-hoo with my new favourite shoes tonight. (IT’S OK BECAUSE I’M MARRIED TO IT.)

Thank you Alice (of Alicepoint) for helping with the photos and the lovely brunch!
This is also the first instalment of Uniqlooks for August.

Jacket – Gmarket, Shirt – Uniqlo, Pants – +J Uniqlo, Bag – Courtesy of JHYoo, Shoes – Zara, Bracelets – Kelly Melu + COS + Gold Hearted + H&M

Ice coffee, Summer rolls and Beef Pho at Viet Grill, 58 Kingsland Road; Thank you Kit for the outfit shots.

This is why I can’t let go of this blog, because that last post was apparently an equivalent to sobbing into a tub of ice-cream (somewhat), and so many kind readers came and asked what’s wrong and told me everything will be okay. Well, I mean, some did wander off into the bedroom and complimented on the curtains, but then again I can’t blame them, holding a tub of icecream does not necessarily mean I’m brooding. I guess one can simply like icecream. I disgress, I just wanted to thank you for the comments and emails of encouragement – I know it’s a simple matter of finding a bad trait in the blog and trying hard to turn it off, but I cherish the interaction. I mean, I will probably break something if someone asks again about my camera equipment, but you know what I mean.

Also wanted to welcome Jen back to London. The gang (Jen, Kit, myself) got together and discussed the usual blogging affairs, politics and a certain delinquent over Pho and ice coffee at Viet Grill on Kingsland Road.

This is also first instalment of Uniqlooks for June. There’s a grool contest going on – enter and win a trip to a Uniqlo flagship store in New York, London, Paris, Shanghai or Tokyo!